Challenges and creativity in IT research

Abstract

Information technology (IT) research is a fairly broad area covering different research topics and offering many interesting challenges and opportunities for creative research. However, in many countries and regions, the IT research is attracting a mainly male population, despite the fact that the addressed research problems are gender-neutral. Reasons for this still remain to be investigated. Some of them come from the general image of science, and in particular IT research. Some are probably influenced by the ways that the IT topics are presented during the education process. Some reasons possibly lie in the emphasis that is put on the technical aspects of IT without stressing the creativity. This often results in the area being attractive for men but not for women. Today, we recognize that having a good gender balance of researchers in different disciplines of science is contributing to scientific results in general. If we want to get a true benefit from information technology that is already present in our everyday lives, it is important to attract the best talents and strive for gender balance.